US awards 29 Purple Hearts for brain injuries in Iran attack

FILE - In this Jan. 13, 2020, photo, U.S. Soldiers stand while bulldozers clear rubble and debris at Ain al-Asad air base in Anbar, Iraq. Six Army soldiers who were injured in a ballistic missile attack in Iraq in January have been awarded Purple Hearts, and 23 others have been approved for the award and will get them later this week, U.S. Central Command said Monday, May 4. (AP Photo/Ali Abdul Hassan, File)

By Lolita C. Baldor, Associated Press&nbsp|&nbsp

Posted: Mon 4:10 PM, May 04, 2020&nbsp|&nbsp

Updated: Mon 4:15 PM, May 04, 2020

WASHINGTON (AP) Six soldiers who were injured in a ballistic missile attack in Iraq in January have been awarded Purple Hearts, and 23 others have been approved for the award and will get them later this week, U.S. Central Command said Monday.

Navy Capt. Bill Urban said the awards were approved by Lt. Gen. Pat White, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, following a review.

About 110 U.S. service members were diagnosed with traumatic brain injuries after the Iranian ballistic missile attack at al-Asad Air Base in Iraq on Jan. 8.

More than a dozen missiles struck the base in an attack that Iran carried out as retaliation for a U.S. drone strike in Baghdad that killed Tehran's most powerful general, Qassem Soleimani, on Jan. 3.

Troops at al-Asad were warned of an incoming attack, and most were in bunkers scattered around the base.

Initially, commanders and President Donald Trump said there were no injuries during the attack.

But after several days, troops began exhibiting concussion-like symptoms and the military started evacuating some from Iraq.

A majority of those injured were eventually able to return to work; others were hospitalized or returned to the U.S.

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